Another Level of Kabeyun

Kabeyun exists on many levels.

One of those levels is a 6 week program that happens at camp each spring called NELP which stands for New England Literature Program.  NELP has been coming here for decades and is comprised of 14 staff/teachers many of whom teach at the University of Michigan and 40 students from UM.  

The students, mostly Juniors and Seniors, come here to study in depth the literary classic greats of New England like Frost and Thoreau.  They live in the cabins at camp without any access to modern day technology (computers, cell phones, TV, et. al.).  Some cabins are turned into classrooms, like the Stiff becomes the "Beehive" and the "Woodchucks" becomes their library  complete with wood stove, couches, and shelves filled with books to check out and read.  

While here, they take 1, 2, and 3 day camping trips to the Whites and into Maine, canoeing trips, and visit historical sites like Mary Baker Eddy's home and the Shaker Village.  Some students go on a "solo" being sent into the woods to spend a solitary night and all, at one point or another, are taken in groups somewhere unbeknowst to them with instructions to find their way back to camp within the day (and they do).  They have several contra-dances and guest lecturers throughout their stay here.

They take turns cooking in the kitchen and eat three squares a day while in camp always inviting those who work here to join them ~ the food is most excellent. And they do a lot of work to help prepare the property for the upcoming summer.

All they time they keep their individual journals upon which their grade is based and one can see them nearly constantly writing in places all over camp.

It's an awesome program, rigorous and intense.  I cannot do justice to it in a few paragraphs but it's a genuine life changer for all who participate.

The  staff, having arrived last Wednesday have been having many pre-program meetings just as the Kabeyun Staff does before our campers arrive..  The students, arrive tomorrow by many vans from Ann Arbor.